Ford to launch six models in Russia this year despite crisis

The current economic and currency crisis in Russia is not deterring Ford Motor’s product plans for the country. In fact, chief executive Mark Fields told German weekly business magazine Wirtschafts Woche that the carmaker plans to roll out six new models this year. He remarked that there are no bad times to introduce “a great new model,” even if the economic conditions are not very favorable.

The US carmaker has lowered its forecast for its Europe operations in 2015, citing the current economic and currency woes as major reasons for the update. Ford saw its vehicle sales in Russia drop 38 percent in 2014 to 65,966 units, while the whole auto industry logged a 10-percent fall, according to data from the Association of European Businesses.

Ford was not alone in blaming Russia, as other carmakers also suffered losses and cut their production in the country for the same reason. Earlier this month, Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks remarked that the company is taking a look at measures to cope with the Russian crisis.

Fields told Wirtschafts Woche that Ford does not have a fixed target for cutting its losses in Europe, adding the carmaker wants to become profitable again in the region as quickly as possible.

Fields disclosed that Ford targets to double its production capacity by the end of 2015 to 1.4 million cars and 500,000 trucks annually in China. He said that to achieve that, Ford will build two new sites and expand capacity at existing plants.